John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

I apologise. I refer to Senator Brennan's colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, who, in the run-up to the last general election, used highly emotive terms in reference to the building of the Bertie bowl. Despite his choice of language, much of what he said was correct. A great deal of money was spent in Abbotstown which will bear no fruit. The millions of euro involved would have accomplished a great deal for sporting bodies and community groups in Dublin and elsewhere had they been invested otherwise. The Government should learn a lesson from this significant waste of money.

Senator Kitt referred to the provision of sporting facilities in regional towns. In most towns, the GAA is the single most significant provider of facilities for the playing of field sports. I am proud of the fact that Nolan Park in Kilkenny is now a 30,000 capacity stadium which has been developed through the hard work of local GAA members and the foresight of those who run the county board. It is a credit to them and the ordinary members of the organisation in the county.

An emotive issue in County Kilkenny recently was that of playgrounds. While it may not relate specifically to national sporting facilities the provision of playground facilities for younger children has not been up to standard over the past ten or 15 years. In a recent survey, County Kilkenny was found to have no council-provided or council-supported playgrounds. While commitments have been given that this will change, it is a fairly damning statistic. There are not enough playgrounds to encourage toddlers and slightly older children to get active with a view to becoming sports people in later life.

In recent years a good deal of money has been spent and I question the value for money aspect of many schemes. We have seen examples in certain parts of the country of clubs with limited numbers of members being allocated vast sums of money. There is a need for a review of how resources are allocated.

Senator Kitt referred to projects that fall just outside the funding requirement for a particular tranche and have to reapply. Where a project is close to qualifying in one round of funding, it does not make sense that the same application would have to be resubmitted a few months later. Those applications could be carried over to the next round of funding to be announced, thus alleviating much of the duplication that occurs in the system.

I conclude with an example given by a resource teacher in a small part of south Kilkenny, close to Waterford City, called Slieverue, which is often referred to because Waterford City council is continually trying to seek a boundary extension into County Kilkenny.